


Hunger Pains

by HappyLeech



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Everyone lives, F/M, Gen, Rating to Change, Spoilers, Tags to be added, Warnings to be added, post-game fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4747640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyLeech/pseuds/HappyLeech
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because they left Blackwood Mountain didn't mean Blackwood Mountain left them</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sam - 1

10 minutes. 10 minutes was too damn slow.

With a scowl, Sam looked up at the rock wall, bouncing on her heels. She needed to pick up her speed- she never knew when she’d have to scale a cliff again.

With a sigh, she prodded at her phone, ready to reset the stop watch, when a hand on her shoulder nearly sent her flying away in terror.

“Back again, Sam?”

With a hiss, she wrenched the headphones out of her ears, trying not to glower at the poor attendant. “What?! Yeah- yeah. Well, I need something to do until they let us go home…” 

After the…incident at the lodge, the Washington’s had flown up from California and wasted no time moving the 7 of them into the best hotel and hospital they could afford. And they could probably afford the damn hotel if they’d wanted. 

While only 3 of them- Matt, Ash, and Sam herself- had been cleared to leave the hospital, they had the run of the entire fourth floor. A blessing because she knew all of them were having nightmares, and she didn’t want anyone unfamiliar knocking on her door to see if she was alright.

The hotel also had a gym with a rock wall, which was another reason why she was going to write a glowing Yelp! review.

She needed to work out the nervous energy, and lord knows the simulated rocks were helping.

“Right, right…” the attendant trailed off, before looking at his watch. “I’ll be locking up in 20 for lunch, so I’ll have to kick you out soon.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I think I’m due for a nice long-“ Sam paused. “-shower.”

No more baths, not for a long while. Not after what happened.

With a longing look towards the climbing wall, she finally shook her head and headed for the locker room. She was going to have an early morning, and even if it was only 12, Sam was beat. She needed lunch and a nap.

Especially since she’d be meeting with the police again about the mines. They’d found something, apparently, and wanted to talk to her.

Sam hoped it was Josh, or Beth, or… what was left…of Hannah.

Anything to give some closure to the fucking insane night, so they could all just move on, and forget.

She got the feeling it wouldn’t be that easy though.

Suppressing a shudder at the thought, Sam looked back at the darkening gym, before jogging towards the lobby. The darkness wasn’t her friend anymore, and even if it was day, she needed the light. Probably all of them did, at this point.

The aftermath of the fire had been insane. The helicopter that Em had called had landed around the same time that Matt and Jess stumbled down the slopes, and Sam’d never seen Mike or Emily look happier, or Matt and Jess look rougher. 

Hell, Jess’d practically passed out on Mike once he ran to her. 

What happened next was both a blur and entirely too vivid for Sam. It was almost like she'd blinked, and she wasn't on the mountaintop, but at the ranger station. Then another blink, and she was in a police station, answering questions about the night.

And they weren’t easy ones to answer. After all, who’d believe the fire was set to kill monsters? All she did was tell them to check the mines, before going quiet.

Questions about Josh though…those were easier, and harder to answer. 

She tried not to cry as she relayed being attacked- she had the needle mark in her neck after all- and how they'd all reacted when he took off the mask. Tried not to show how damn upset she was when she told them about how he’d attacked them all, videotaped them, convinced them that he was fucking dead.

It wasn’t until she was released into the custody of the hospital staff that Sam had a chance to ask about the others, and she wasn’t sure that she’d liked the answers.

“Well, Michael is missing two fingers, and has mild hypothermia. Matthew is mostly fine, just a few bumps and scratches. Emily had several cuts, but nothing life threatening. We’re holding her because of the risk of infection though. Ashley’s under observation for her head, but she’ll be out soon. Christopher has several broken ribs, so we’ll be holding him for a few days as well.”

“What about Jess? Is Jessica okay?”

“She's…Jessica is stable.”

And that's all she knew about Jess. About all of them. 

Shaking her head, Sam began to bounce again as she stabbed at the call button, waiting for the elevator to arrive. 10, 9, 8…

“Hey Sam. Nervous much?”

To her credit, this time Sam didn't almost jump out of her skin. Instead she turned slowly, hands in fists, before relaxing. 

Just Ashley. 

The red-head had a bag of burgers- Sam could practically smell the grease coming out of it- and a black eye like nobody’s business. 

“It’s just habit, Ash. That and…I don't want to sit still for too long. Doesn't feel safe anymore to just stand around. You go see Chris?”

Ashley nodded. “Yeah. He's bitching because his phone got busted up there. I told him that he could have lost something more important than his phone, and he was like “what? Like my 3DS?”. Boys.”

“Boys,” Sam agreed with a smile. “I think he was just jos - joking. Just joking with you.”

“I hope so…” Ashley paused. “Uhm, I'm sorry- I just stopped and didn't think. I don't have anything in here that you're gonna wanna eat.” Ash lifted the bag, shrugging.

And that was when Sam should have known something was wrong. 

“Nah, I'll take a burger. I'm starving, to be honest.” Sam said, surprising herself and Ashley. 

The elevator reached them with a ding, and they moved aside as a woman with a stroller walked out.

“Oh…really? Are you sure, Sam? I mean, you’ve been big into this vegan thing for like…years.” Ashley raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the elevator.

Sam shrugged as she followed Ash. “I dunno. I just…really wanna burger. Cravings hitting me hard, I guess. Plus it’s pretty expensive, and I’m not going to be using mom’s money anymore…”

“Well,” Ashley hit the button, floor four. “if you’re sure, then I guess I can spare a burger for you, Sammy.”

“Thanks Ash. I can pay you back once I get a new card…I'm sure all my stuff was incinerated.” Her clothes, her phone, her wallet…

Her photo booth pictures of her, Beth, Hannah, and Josh. 

“Don’t worry about it, Sam. Didn’t you look in that envelope the Washington’s left each of us?” Ashley asked, opening the bag and passing Sam a burger. It took all her self-control not to eat the damn thing in front of Ashley like some kind of wild animal.

She’d been working out longer than usual, so it made sense. 

Right?

Sam shook her head. “No…I assumed it was money and I didn't want to deal with that. The letter I got already screamed _“we're sorry our son traumatized you then died, don't sue us”_.”

Ashley snorted. “I guess. I dunno- I’m going to use it for doctor’s stuff…plus, uhm.” She looked a little shy, and Sam nudged her as they exited the elevator. Good news? She hoped it was good news.

“Yeah?” she pressed as they walked towards the room Matt was in.

Ashley shrugged again. “Well, I mean, I’m not sure yet, but…I might be moving in with Chris, when this is done. Like…maybe. I don’t know…”

“Really?” Sam grinned, glad that Ash and Chris were finally making a move. The grin faded as Ashley took the lead, her mind going back to Josh. Did he really think traumatizing them both was the only way to bring the two nerds together?

She shuddered. She had an idea of why he’d done everything else, but terrifying Ash and Chris just because neither of them would man up and get it on?

What had Josh been thinking?

-%-

The next morning, after a night of light sleep and the dreaded sounds of her friends sobbing to themselves, Sam found herself back in the police station. 

This time there were more people in the interview room with her, not just a single officers. A ranger and two officers sat on the other side of the table from her, their faces tight with exhaustion.

It was a look Sam was discovering more and more on her own face. 

“Because of what you’d mentioned in the mines, Sam,” the interviewer from before, her name Sam hadn’t picked up, started talking first, and her voice was a little tight. “We sent three officers down there yesterday.”

The woman stopped, and picked up a piece of paper. “Down there, they found several articles and items belonging to the Washington Twins. Bethany’s coat, bits and pieces of Hannah’s jewellery, and…” she paused again, and Sam bit at her lip. “And Bethany’s head. I…thank you, Samantha. Without you mentioning the mines, the Washington’s wouldn’t have anything to bury. It’s just too bad we…”

Sam took a deep breath, tears welling up in her eyes. Em had told her, told them all about finding Beth’s head in the mine, but to hear that they’d found it, were bringing her out of that cold hell… It was different.

“Do you want to stop, take a break?” the woman asked, but Sam shook her head. She wanted this over and done with- she had a date with a rock wall.

“No, I- I’m good…” she almost whispered. 

“We also…two additional officers went further into the mine, to see what else they could find there.” The woman was silent now, and the ranger took over talking. 

“They…unfortunately…appeared to encounter a wild animal. Wolves, or perhaps a starving bear that’d fall into the mine as well.”

Sam felt her gut clench. Did they mean…?

“The three officers found…pieces of their fellow officers in the mine, Samantha. Were you aware of anything down there?” one of the officers asked, and she shook her head.

“No…I didn’t…I saw all kinds of things, but I didn’t think there was anything in there anymore…” she said, quietly.

“It’s okay, no one could have known that there was something in there. Old mines aren’t the best lit places. At this time, we’ve asked the Washington’s to close access to the mountain, and will be treating the entire area as a crime scene. Now, what this means for you and your 6 friends, is that you’re no longer are required to stay in province, or Canada.”

Sam breathed out. So Mike and Em and Matt and Jess could go home. Chris back to Vancouver, and Ash with him. And maybe she’d be able to get back to her climbing on actual mountains.

“We’re sorry for the trouble you’ve all been put through, and if we need anything further, we’ll contact you at the hotel.”

Sam nodded, her face blank, but inside she was panicked. Even with the news that everyone could go home, she still felt the fear. 

Another one.

Another wendigo.

-%-

The ride back to the hotel was spent in silence, and Sam contained her urge to bolt for the elevator. Instead she took the stairs, counting each step she took until she reached the fourth floor.

It was on the mountain, not in the city. And no one was going back there either. It was pointless to worry. 

“So, Sam. What did they say? Did they find Josh, or anything?”

Matt looked up as she walked into the room, and she shook her head as she headed for the nearest chair. She needed to sit.

“They said…so we don’t need to stay here any longer. They found traces of Hannah and Beth, and…okay. No freaking out, yeah?” Sam took a deep breath, and Matt seemed to brace himself for her words.

“Two officers were killed. Torn to bits, I guess, in the mines. There’s still a wendigo on the mountain.”

“…shit. Well, it’s up there, right? It’s not going to come down here, after us, is it?” Sam was about to answer, when Ashley walked in.

“…what’s coming after us? A lawsuit? Because I refuse to let the Washington’s blame us for the cabin fire.” She said with a frown, and Matt shook his head.

“Another wendigo.”

Ashley was quiet, then flopped herself face down on the nearest bed.

“Fuck.”

She rolled over.

“If any of us tell Jess, Mike will fucking kill us.”

Sam nodded. “So secrets from Jess, 2k15 is in effect?”

Matt snorted. “Yeah. If Em can keep quiet about it…”

“Hey- she’s been pretty good in the hospital, Matty. I think her and Jess have made up- no more 9 AM bitch fights.” Ash paused. “Thank god. I’d heard enough about Jess and Mike’s sex life verses yours and Ems to last me a lifetime, Matt.”

“Uh. Well. Yeah. Jeeze Em…” Matt darkened, and Sam almost pushed herself to chuckle as he looked away. “So, what do we do now?”

Sam shrugged.

“Go home? Rest? Forget that the weekend ever happened?”

Like that’d ever happen.

She should have known better than to be optimistic.


	2. Mike & Jess- 1

“-shit. Yeah, let's keep that on the down-low. I don't want to stress Jess out any more than she already is…”

Mike sighed, flexing his injured hand. It was going to be hard, going home less two fingers. 

_‘At least that's all I lost,’_ he thought to himself, before shaking his head. 

“Okay Sam. Thanks for telling me…”

With another sigh, he ended the call, hanging the curtesy phone up. 

Great. 

_Fucking_ amazing. 

They'd managed to miss a goddamn cannibal freak up on mystery mountain. 

_‘But they won't come into the city…right?’_ Suddenly disturbed by the lack of knowledge related to the wendigo, he almost didn't notice the nurse calling his name. 

“Mr. Munroe? Jessica’s awake again. She’s stable enough for visitors today, if you wanted to go in with her?”

He looked over at the nurse, then nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Visiting times with Jess were few and far between, so it didn't matter what was going on- if he could go in to see her, he would. 

Flexing his hand one more time, he slowly followed after the nurse, trying to ignore the ache in his chest from the wounds, and the worry. 

 

“Hey Jess.”

She was sitting up, fiddling with the bandages on her hands when he entered the room, and she practically beamed at him. 

It's the biggest smile he'd seen from her in the last few days, and all his tension melted away. 

“Hey there hero. Long-time no see.”

She much quieter than before, muted, but still unmistakably her. With a smile, Mike takes a seat at her side.

“Well I heard that my Snowball Queen was awake, so I needed to come pledge my fealty.”

Snowball Queen and her Hero. 

Mike almost shook his head- it seemed so…unreal that, less than a week ago, they'd all gone up Bullshit Mountain and faced the shitstorm that was the wendigos and Josh.

He'd almost lost her, but there Jess was, smiling at him again, alive and safe. 

God…it had been an emotional few days. 

At first he’d only gone so he could fool around with Jess- Him and Josh weren't on the best terms after the...prank. But...

The panic of seeing Jess get taken, blowing up not one, but two buildings, fighting the wendigos and feeling the spirit or whatever it was fly through him. 

The anger, thinking Jess was dead. Blaming Josh for everything when it wasn't his monster. 

The complete and utter joy and relief of seeing Matt and Jess. 

Alive. 

Matt was a good guy, and him and Em fit well together. So when Jess and Matt had tumbled down the snowy hills behind the lodge, well…

There was no surprise that she bolted for him.

“Mike? Your hand…” He started as Jess spoke, looking down as she did. He wiggled the remaining three at her with a smile, shrugging. He was getting used to being 2 fingers short.

“Just a regular hazard of monster hunting,” he joked, and mentally cheered as his words coaxed a shy giggle out of Jess. 

That's what he wanted to see more of. More smiles and happy Jess for him, thank you very much. 

“But, I'm okay. A little sore but-“ he shrugged, reaching out for and gently taking Jess’s hand in his. “I'm just happy that I can sit here with you. How are you feeling, your highness?”

She gave Mike’s hand a tentative squeeze, worried about hurting him or too weak to press any harder, and give him a little half shrug. 

“I…” She was so quiet that he lent forwards, leaving a small kiss on her nose. She giggles, but any happiness on her face is fading. “I'm havin’ bad dreams…About that…the cabin. And they said I'm going to lose some fingers and toes…”

Mike’s heart sank. He wished they hadn't gone to the cabin, wished they hadn't left the states. 

Wished he'd been fast enough to pull her off that damn elevator.

Wished they hadn’t been fooling round like that. 

“But…at least I know my hero was there to find me, and now we’ll match.” Her smile was back. It was faint, but enough to make Mike relax. 

“I couldn't save you, though.” 

He should have been able to pull her to safety in the first place. 

Jess shook her head, slowly. “You came for me, though. That's…that's more than anyone else would do, hero.”

“Hey, that’s not true. Everyone would have too. Even Emily," he protested.

And it was true. Sure there’d been fights between Em and Jess, some because of him, but…Emily still considered Jess to be her ‘bff5evar’, regardless of what Jess thought. And everyone else liked Jess. She was…Mike’d never say it out loud, willingly, but she was a light. Everyone gravitated towards her. 

“I dunno… I was really nasty to her, in the lodge…Mike, what if she totally hates me now?! I just…” Jess seemed to curl in on herself, and Mike shook his head.

“Hey, no. Trust me. Emily will never hate you. Me, oh she’s got reason to hate me now, but…” He shrugged. There wasn’t any need to talk about the incident with the bite and the gun around Jess. 

He’d have to make sure that Em knew to keep quiet about it.

There was a silence, before Mike spoke again.

“So, uh…Obviously I’m here. Got myself some missing fingers, some gashes, that kinda stuff. Chris is here too- busted knee, busted ribs, shock and all that. Em’s here too. She got some nasty cuts, so she’s here until they’re happy they won’t be infected.” He paused. She would be going home soon- sooner than him or Chris or Jessica would be. 

“Sam’s mostly fine. Some shock but she’d at the hotel the Washington’s paid for, for us all after we get out. Matt’s okay. Scrapes, but nothing too bad. Ashley too- she’d got some cuts and a nasty knock to the head, but she’s fine.”

Jess nodded, then asked the question he didn’t want to answer. 

“What about Josh? I mean…no one’s really told me anything about him…He's okay, right?”

Mike took a shuddering breath, and Jess seemed to sink into her blankets further.

“Josh is…Missing. The thing that grabbed you-“ She shuddered at the mention, and Mike wanted to cry. “-It…it got him. I was right there, and it walked off with him. I should have…”

Instead, he'd stood there shivering behind a rock while it- Hannah- walked off with Josh. 

Jess nodded, slowly. 

“’M just glad you're okay, Mike. You and everyone else-“ she stifled a yawn. “Do you…do you think Em would wanna come visit? I mean…”

She sunk a little, and Mike nodded. 

“I'll go see, kay? You just rest up.”

Squeezing her hand gently, he stood and made his way out of her room and towards Emily's. 

 

First though, he popped a head into Chris’s room. 

“Jess is awake now,” he said, and Chris looked up at him from some book Ash must have dropped off.

“Yeah? Dude, man that's great! So visitors can happen?” The other male was covered in bandages and soon to be surgical scars. but he still looked like he was contemplating hopping out of bed and hobbling over to see her.

“Yeah. I don't think you two’ll be able to visit yet though. You're kinda-“ he waved a hand, and Chris snorted. 

“I broke like I was a china shop and wendigo was a bull. She's good, though, right? All her fingers and toes?”

"Eh, not quite. She said the doctors were going to have to remove a few." Cris cringed, and Mike finally walked into the room, making a beeline for the only chair. "Nightmares and trauma too...” He paused. “Sam called earlier. Something happened that we can not tell Jess about, ever.”

All of Chris’s attention was on him now. “Is it…”

Mike shook his head. “I don't think it's…not him. Another wendigo.”

“Sheeeeet. So are we going to Buffy that bastard then? Like- after we get better, I mean.” While Mike wanted to get as far away from the wendigo as possible, Chris wanted to go find it?

“I dunno. I've had enough of the mountains for a lifetime.” Mike paused. “But if you do head up there let me know, okay? The mountains like a goddamn serial killer and I don't want us all to get picked off one by one.”

Chris nodded. “So no going off alone to investigate the spooky noise then? Gotcha. Tell Jess hey from the resident nerd?”

“Yeah- sure thing. Good luck with your surgery.” Mike clapped a hand on Chris’s shoulder, before continuing. 

 

Em was next and he knew she'd be furious to see him. 

And he wasn't wrong. 

“Ah, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Her injuries didn't seem to have affected her mood, but Mike knew it was a front. She looked exhausted, and pissed off, but she was probably a little scared of him too. And he couldn't blame her.

“If you take one goddamn step into this room I'm going to get every nurse and security guard in this room, Micheal."

He held up his hands from the doorway. “Hey yeah I don't blame you. But before you throw me out on my ass- Jess is awake. She wants to know if you'll go see her.”

Emily shot him a suspicious look.

“Really? That's why you're here- not so you can buy my silence?”

“Uh…well-“ Em’s hand hovered over the call button, ready to slam it down and call every nurse running to her side. “L-look! I don't care who you tell about the basement, but just don't tell Jess. She's-“

Maybe he looked upset enough, or something, but Emily sighed before climbing out of her bed. 

“She’s good, though? Like…” She motioned vaguely as she walked over to him, and Mike shrugged. 

“Nightmares. All those cuts and bruises. She's…trying though. There's something else you need to know and keep quiet about.”

She glared. “Yeah? What now?” Em crossed her arms, and Mike almost took a step back. 

“One of the wendigos is still alive. Sam said it killed some police officers in the caves. We keep this quiet, okay?” Emily paled, tears starting to form, and he wanted to give her a hug. Probably not a good idea though.

“It- it can't get here, can it?” She hissed, and Mike shook his head, lying.

“I looked them up- they don't come into cities. We’re okay. We will be okay, Em.”

She still shuddered, looking back at the window and the snow outside. “Fine, yeah. I'll go see Jess. Just get out of here, Mike. I- I'm not ready to see you now.”

Mike nodded, gave her a gentle half-hug when she let him, and left. 

His doctors would want to look at his hand soon, and he knew Em needed her time before she could really face him.

He made a terrible mistake, and he was going to live with it.


End file.
